Tipping in USA/Canada
in [Airline Travel]
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From: Dennis P. Harris on 9 Nov 2007 02:46 On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 21:29:14 +1100 in rec.travel.air, Qanset <Qanset(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > I'm going to cop a lot of flak on this subject, but never mind I have > and open mind on accepting advice on World Travel. if you have an open mind, the usual gratuity for good service is 15 per cent of the tab. it does not apply in fast food places where you take your own food to the table. i understand it does not apply down under, but it does in the americas and europe, so you should get used to it, or expect to get poor service and the worst table in the place. when in rome, do as the romans do, and budget for it.
From: Dennis P. Harris on 9 Nov 2007 03:09 On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:21:54 -0700 in rec.travel.air, DevilsPGD <spam_narf_spam(a)crazyhat.net> wrote: > >But in many establishments the tips all get pooled and split up > >among the help, including the buspersons. This defeats the whole > >purpose of tipping proportionate to the service received, and in > >hope that the waiter will at least see the tip I tend to leave a > >cash tip even if I pay with a credit card. Unfortunately, in many > >restaurants the busperson sweeps up the tip while clearing the > >table. > > Even so, that means the poor service person is benefiting from the tips > of the good service people. Peer pressure will work wonders, if you let > it. i have waited tables where i kept the entire tip; where i split a proportion with the bartender when they ordered drinks; with the sommelier when i upsold extra wine; with the maitre d' (or i would not have had good customers coming to my tables, and i would be assigned the worst tables in the place); and most recently, where the tips were pooled. i can assure you that when the tips are pooled, poorly performing waitpersons, bussers, and bartenders don't work there very long, because the owner won't want productive waitstaff to all take a walk at once. on a good crew, with a good chef, good boss, and good staff who all work together to make customers feel happy and spend more money, no one has a qualm about splitting tips. and waiting tables, as the european headwaiter who trained me said, is a performance. a good waitperson puts on a show, and makes the customer feel special so she/he *wants* to spend money and tip well. i would suggest to the OP that if they don't want to tip, that they stick to mall food courts, fast food restaurants, and takeout delis or supermarkets. it's an unfortunate fact of life that the american restaurant industry has refused to pay their employees a living wage and expects them to live off tips, to the point that it's actually the law and they will be taxed on tips that the govt expects them to receive even if they don't. europe used to be that way, too. they were civilized enough to add the charge for service on the bill, even though it was optional when i first went to europe in the 70s. now it is included in the bill everywhere, although it is still sometimes put on the bill as a separate charge. also, there will be a mandatory "gratuity charge" for groups in most restaurants. this has been done because there are still too many cheapskates who think that when they're in large groups their failure to tip won't be noticed. if restaurants didn't do this, their staff would refuse to serve large groups.
From: Qanset on 9 Nov 2007 03:52 StephanieM wrote: > You know the part of the question I fail to grasp on this one is where > are you coming from. The US dollar is in the tank. You have got to > be benfitting from the exchange rate alone. > Which question are you referring to?? While the US dollar is depressed it might encourage more tourism into The USA and stimulate the local economy.
From: DevilsPGD on 9 Nov 2007 09:43 In message <cJidnc7Jtp50Yq7anZ2dnUVZ_vzinZ2d(a)comcast.com> mrtravel <mrtravel(a)a.a.a> wrote: >James Robinson wrote: > >> There are also some shady restaurant owners who demand a cut of the tip >> revenue. Those are not common. >> > >It seems only fare they recoup the credit card fees on the tip charges How is one related to the other? -- You can get more with a kind word and a 2x4 than just a kind word.
From: TMOliver on 9 Nov 2007 10:32
"James Robinson" <wascana(a)212.com> wrote in message news:Xns99E2966A8CBE9wascana212com(a)216.196.97.142... > > There are various ways that tips are handled in restaurants. In most > cases, the wait staff keeps the tip. In some cases, all the money is put > into a pool and then divided up evenly among the wait staff. In some > cases the tip revenue is shared with the bartenders and chefs, according > to some agreed-to ratio, with the wait staff getting the majority. There > is no set rule. > > There are also some shady restaurant owners who demand a cut of the tip > revenue. Those are not common. > Owners? Wait one.... Many years ago, working during college (1960-61) as a barman/tender, I was introduced to the custom in which cocktail waitresses are required to split tips with the "attending mixologist", a practice still prevalent in high class saloons, Vegas and the cocktail loungers of chi-chi hostelries. Back in the "good old days", a bartender or a hotel doorman might receive no salary at all, and in fact be required to "buy" his commission/position from an incumbent (as is still not uncommon in the taxi trade). IN places like Vegas's fancier hotels, the doorman received a "split" from car parkers, bellmen and assorted odd-job lots. Beware the fate of any cocktail waitress holding out on cash tips.... Interesting US tipping customs.... No tip when turning over a car to a valet parker, but a modest tip upon returning the car for a local tip or departure. AA's "fee" per bag for curbside check-in. How much to "tip" atop it....$1.00 a bag is sort of a balance point. My only curbside checkins have been with AA, so I'm not sure about other airlines and their current practices...(originating and returning to ACT, a modest airport, occasional weeds sprouting from the tarmac, it's "tote your own" when it comes to bags (but only a few feet from the terminal to free parking!) One wonders into which decade Robert Cohen remains locked with his 10-15% tipping in the US....although "Ryan's" and "Golden Corral" - and even in a Godless world, Wendy's - remain marginally superior choices to the average motorway-side "caf" in the UK. Ruby's is on Tuesday, while Thank God It's Friday('s), originally "meat market" singles' bars, East Side NYC and Lower Greenville, Dallas, the first two I remember, much altered in their current manifestation, no longer places to pick up women. Looking back several decades, how many remember the spread of the old "Steak and Ale" chain (Brinker, husband of the late Mo Connolly, tennis star) across the US, successful since so many business travelers sought out a comfortable consistent name for drinking and eating on the road. Ray Kroc changed the world, even in France. David Brinker changed the world of business travelers and begat dozens of "name" restaurants, all those Chili's, Friday's, R. Tuesdays, Cheddars, Applebys', etc. on the bottom, "Outback" (HQed in that major Australian city, Dallas) in the middle, and the Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Smith & Wollensky, Shula's, etc. up in the higher priced range. "Brand Loyalty" has been the keynote of marketing efforts since long before Doyle Dane Bernbach remade Chivas Regal and made VW a household name in the US. I'm not much for the seafood at "Bloody-Red Lobsterbacks'" or the pasta at "Palmolive Garters", but I've got to give it to those folks at Darden in Orlando, the ability to consistently fill the desires of a major chunk of the dining public, strengthened by slick, appealing advertising. In the case of the seafood especially, I wish the fish was as good as the pictures, but only having eaten at an RL once in this decade (and that at a client's insistence), who am I to criticize. As for Italian food (to which spending much of three years, '62-'65, coming and going in and around Italy near addicted me), access to ingredients, especially better pasta and cheeses, makes my home kitchen better than all but the toniest of uptown joints. TMO |